February: Observations & Inspirations

Let's just get right into it, 5 things that I found inspiring this month, and 5 things that could be improved.

Inspiring Bits

1. Cubeecraft, perfect place to learn hand skills, to play and to create something for your workspace. Here is my Cubeecraft creation, Italian Spiderman.
   
   
   
2. http://www.unarmedjavascript.com/ website that teaches JavaScript. What I love about it is that it starts the lessons from the bottom of the page, and you have to work your way up.
   
   
   
3. http://www.rememberthemilk.com/ tool to organize everything. My use of it ranges from keeping track of a todo list, to managing agile projects for my clients.
   
   
   
4. Helvetica Movie
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Watching sunrises... here is my photo from Lady Elliott Island, at about six in the morning
   
   
   

Annoying Bits

1. Airport security. It exists solely to create a perception of safety (or presence of a threat), and it greatly slows down travelers.
2. Cinebuzz asks you if you want to buy discounted $8 tickets, at the same time giving you the option of full-priced $16 tickets. Clicking the hint link yields a not-so-helpful help box.
   
   
   
3. Websites that don't let me pay on the site, i.e. only have pay-by-phone. Nowadays, existence of Paypal makes this inexcusable.
4. Slow or no e-mail responses to inquiries. Usually, if I don't get a response within 24 hours, I take my money elsewhere.
5. Facebook Visual Shelf app has got the social element right, but not navigation. I always find myself puzzled when looking for a page in the app. In addition, there is an ever-present "books" bubble that hovers over My Collection, regardless of what page you are on.
   
   

Previous months
January: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

"Hair of the Dog" beer label design

The Brief
Design and complete a logo plus front/back/neck labels for a new designer beer that is coming onto the market. The style of bottle is for a long neck bottle. The design should be "bright and colorful" aimed at the younger 25-35 year-old drinkers and should therefore be upmarket and current.

Design Outcome
The logo and label design were created in Adobe Illustrator CS3, using shapes and some hand-drawn elements.


Semester 1: Language and Systems of Communication, taught by Rob Tossen

Russian folk tale illustration

Tale of Swan Geese
also known as "Gusi Lebedi", Гуси Лебеди

Getting is touch with my roots... this is what this assignment was about. As designers, we have to tap into our unique backgrounds and characters to produce something new, personal and satisfying for clients and ourselves.

To create this tale illustration, we had to look into the history of our ancestors and select a folk tale to be re-told using 6 illustrations. Each illustration used a different medium, which I list under the each illustration. The first is a symbol from Russian Art style called "Hohloma" and I rendered it using gouache paints. This symbol (or its parts) will subsequently appear in all illustrations, see if you can spot it ;)

Gouache on watercolor paper

The Story
"Zhili bili..." that's the classic beginning of a Russian tale, which literally translates to "There lived, there existed". So let's stay true to the traditions and start with that.

There lived, there existed a grandma and grandpa with two small grandchildren. The young boy was named Ivanushka, and his older sister was called Alenushka. One day they were playing outside of the house, when mean birds called "swangeese" came and stole the little Ivanushka!

Watercolor on watercolor paper

Desperately Alenushka tried to catch the birds, but they were long gone. Worried, she set out on a journey to find her brother. As she walked, she met a River of Milk.
"Alenushka, have some of my delicious milk," said the River.
"No way, my Daddy has yummier milk." And she went on.

Later she came across an Apple Tree and a Baking Oven. Each offered her their gifts, but Alenushka just turned her nose away and said that her Daddy has better.

Acrylic on watercolor paper

And so she went on... Towards the end of the day, Alenushka came across a House on Chicken Legs, where Baba Yaga lives. She was terribly scared, but she loved her brother very much, and she she went in. Ivanushka was sitting in a pot ready to be cooked (!!!), while Baba Yaga was organizing her spices.

Alenushka felt a small tickle on her leg, and she saw a little mouse speaking to her.
"Alenushka, give me some of your bread, and I'll distract Baba Yaga so you can escape!"
This sounded like a fine deal, and Alenushka shared her bread with the little mouse. In this moment, Alenush learned a very important lesson of sharing and gratitude. Without waisting a moment, she grabbed Ivanushka by the hand, and ran out of the house.

Collage and acrylic on watercolor paper

Again the brother and sister came across the River, the Apple Tree and the Baking Oven. However, this time they accepted their gifts and said "Thank You." In appreciation of their kindness, the River, the Apple Tree and the Baking Over hid the kids from the chasing birds.

Collage and typography on watercolor paper

When the kids arrived home safely, their parents were very happy to see them. They huged and kissed the children, who learned a very important lesson that day.

Typography print on scanned watercolor texture

Semester 1: Design Culture and Theory taught by Annette Lodge

Painting in the style of October Revolution

The brief requested us to pick a 20th century artist and act as if we were that artist. We had to create an art piece in the style of the chosen person, and then use this artwork in a Graphic Design treatement. Part of the task was to invent the project for which the artist was commissioned. Finally, we performed a play in a group of 4 people impersonating the artist, but we won't include it here ;).

I chose to be Natalia Goncharova, a Russian avant-darde painter. I was commissioned to do a wall piece for a revolutionary society "Donkey's Tail". This was the first part of my project. For the second part I designed 4 postal stamps using the painting.

Below is the painting, acrylic on canvas, followed by the 4 stamp designs done in Photoshop CS3 and InDesign CS3.


Notice the texture on the stamps and the old-paper look. I created the "old paper" using a cotton ball dipped in coffee and smudged all around A4 piece of cartridge paper. After the paper dried I ironed it to get the ripples out and scanned it in. For the rough texture look I used the Texturizer filter in Photoshop.





Semester 1: Design Culture and Theory, taught by Annette Lodge

Earrings for each seasons

The Brief
My client is invited to a Seasonal theme party, and she commissioned me to design 4 pairs of earrings corresponding to each season. Money is not an issue, and the only constrain is that I cannot use yellow gold. Additionally, each design must have a distinctive gemstone or crystal.

Here they are, one for each season with gemstones attached. Artwork is executed in watercolor and color pencils, on Arches Watercolor Medium 300 GSM paper.

Spring with Diamond and Citrine

Summer with Amber

Autumn with Red Agate

Winter with Rutilated Quartz

Final Presentation

Semester 1: Design Culture and Theory, taught by Edwina Riddell

Gutenberg pictorial essay

The Brief
Write and design a 700 word pictorial essay on two to three A3 pages on any historical character, typographical innovation or significant technological development during the period starting with the Cave drawings to the period of Art Nouveau.

Design Outcome
I have chosen Johann Gutenberg. The pictorial essay pages were created in the style of Gutenberg's beloved and infinitely magnificent achievement of "Gutenberg Bible."

The old paper texture was created using a piece of A4 cartridge paper and a cotton ball soaked in coffee :) After the paper dried, I ironed it to get the waves out and scanned it in. I then used Photoshop to blow up the image to A3 size.

The floral illustrations were rendered using gouache and color pencils. The font used for the body text is Goudy Text.



View body copy of the essay in a separate post

Semester 1: Peter McGill, Language and Systems of Communication

Buy Nothing Day crosstrack & visual proposal

This is the visual part of the assignment described in my earlier post. In summary, the students created a proposal to Adbusters magazine for designing a crosstrack campaign for Buy Nothing Day (the text of the proposal is included in a separate post).

Below is the PDF file of the final proposal, and the graphics of the crosstrack poster we designed. The work was done in a team of 3 ladies.





Semester 1: Ideas Generation in Visual Communication, taught by Peter Worthington and Matt Leach

Nomadic magazine cover

The goal here was to use as many Photoshop filters and effects as possible, without regard for aesthetic beauty... But I still wanted to create something that didn't offend the eye :)

The brief asked us to come up with a magazine related to any theme, and create a cover it. I had to ask myself, what do I like the most. Some of the possibilities were healthy eating, herbs or environment, but the topic that truly excites me is travel! Here it is, a magazine about travel, Nomadic.


Semester 1: Language and Systems of Communication, taught by Rob Tossen

"Triple T" film festival campaign

For this project we selected a topic related to motion picture industry, and we had to create a full advertising campaign around it.

My team of 3 people came up with an idea of an outdoor short-film festival to promote socially conscious films. The name of the festival is Triple T, and it showcases work of young and upcoming film makers or anyone who has an idea worth sharing.

As part of the campaign, we decided to give away "goodie bags" with some symbolic items inside: seeds for new beginnings, band-aids for strong health, as well as Triple T branded badges, the festival program and a DVD of the movies shown. All of this is hand made, except for Band-Aides, of course ;)


When all was ready, each team gave a 20-30 min presentation to the class on their ideas and proposal.


Semester 1: Tim Jettis, Introduction to Studio Practice

Atalanta and Hippomenes

Part 1: Myth Illustration

The brief asked us to pick a scene from one of the Greek Myths and create an illustration for that scene using at least 2 human figures in action poses, and employing principles of perspective.

I have selected a scene from the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes. The illustration portraits the race between Atalanta and Hipomenes, which decides whether Hipomenes lives or dies, and whether Atalanta gets to know the taste of intimacy. The viewer is positioned in front of the running figures with the road fading into the distance. I felt that this position makes the biggest impact on the viewer, and conveys the intensity and swiftness of the race.

pencil modello

When producing the illustration, my main challenges included deciding on the postures and composition, and then actually getting the figures on paper. Since my composition includes figures running forward, the drawing involved foreshortening and overlapping of masses, which seemed unnatural during sketching, but after stepping away looked realistic. It was also challenging to use the black pen, since the only mark you get from it is black or white, no grey.

Atalanta and Hippomenes illustration (black pen)

The biggest aid in producing the illustration was the use of reference photos. After creating a rough composition, I found numerous images of the items I wanted to depict. I have combined them one by one in the pencil modello, studying each portion in detail. When the time came to doing the final illustration, it was a relatively straightforward process of transferring the shapes and tone from modello to the pen illustration.

Part 2: Written assignment

Relevance Of Traditional Image Creation Techniques On Contemporary Multimedia And Graphic Design

Before an artist can fly, he or she needs to master the skill of walking. Learning the fundamental techniques of image creation is now more important than ever to the digital artists, since it allows them to apply this knowledge to the world of pixels.

The rise of modern technology had caused many young artists to explore the realms of digital image creation. Programs, such as Photoshop and Corel Painter, made it possible to produce dazzling on-screen artworks, with quickness and precision of the computer, yet with human touch of the creator. There are also many online communities, for example Deviant Art, where aspiring artists share their digital works with the world, and stand a chance at being noticed.

In order to shine among the many, these upcoming artists need to solidify their core drawing and image creations skills. They now realize that the best place to learn is from the people who have done this many times, before the computers entered the scene. All of a sudden, Andrew Loomis has become popular and necessary again, and the traditional knowledge base has mixed with the present.

Semester 1: Design Culture and Theory, taught by David Briggs

Type index - learning to identify typefaces

One of the most painful, but beneficial assignments we've done in Semester 1 :)

The brief asked us to collect one example each of the various Type Families ~ Old Style serif, Transitional serif, Modern serif, Sans serif, Slab serif, Script, Decorative and Blackletter and identify them. We needed to include the name the font, when it was designed, who designed it (a small bio) and what we thought of the font and its usage.

The second part was to find as many examples as possible that used letters as their main message; be it calligraphy, stone carving, signwriting, graffitti, neon signs, tatts, embroidery, skywriting, urban alphabet, domestic alphabet, etc.

Here is my interpretation of the brief:


Semester 1: Peter McGill, "Language and Systems of Communication"

Logo & Business Card Design

Alas, I am posting my first semester work! Better finish this up before the summer holidays run out :).

This was one of my first projects. We were asked to design a logo for "our business" using only 4 spot colors. We later had to identify the colors using the Pantone books, and trace each color into a separate piece of tracing paper, similar to the way printers use printing plates. I based my design on an Illustration file from iStockPhoto, which I was able to modify to my needs. I added colors, text, and changed some shapes. Great learning experience!


Second part of the assignment was to design a business card using this logo. Voilà...


Semester 1: Intro to Studio Practice, taught by Dave Walch

Contemporary Design Presentation

What is meant by Contemporary Design?

Instead of drilling boring lectures into the heads of the students, Edwina Riddell has found a creative and effective solution to deliveing the information. She assigned a particular design era to a group of 2 - 3 students, and thus transferred the engagement of the topic to the students.

I find this to be a a brilliant idea! The students get Public Speaking experience, they perform their own research, and in the end student presentations are usually listened to more attentively, than teachers, due to a feeling of solidarity.

Each student group presented on the chosen design era during the class (one group per week). Afterwards, Edwina filled in any of her extra knowledge and provided comments.

For our presentation, Gina and I selected Contemporary Design, an exciting and relevant period of design, which is still affecting our choices today.

Click the image below to view the PDF of our presentation:


Semester 1: Intro to Studio Practice, taught by Edwina Riddell